How Much Does Land Grading Cost in Tennessee?

Land grading cost for most yards runs about $1,000 to $3,300, based on Angi’s 2026 national data. Angi says most homeowners pay $1,022 to $3,330 to level a yard. Its national average is $2,176, from 5,354 verified projects.

HomeGuide, another national cost guide, puts regrading a small lawn at $500 to $1,000. It puts the average backyard at $1,000 to $5,000, and land grading at $17,400 to $43,600 per acre. A quarter-acre home lot runs $4,400 to $10,900.

These are market numbers, not our price list. Wilson Forestry and Excavating handles site prep and grading out of Woodlawn, just west of Clarksville. That work covers rough and finish grading, lot grading, building pads and driveway cuts.

What does land grading cost per square foot and per acre?

National cost guides price grading a few ways. Each figure below comes from the guide named beside it.

Finish grading smooths and levels the surface soil. Rough grading removes a slope or shapes the land for drainage. HomeGuide’s full land leveling range, $0.40 to $2.00 per square foot, spans both.

Why do the cost guides give different numbers?

The headline numbers measure different jobs. Angi’s average covers leveling a yard, and Fixr’s $1,800 is one 1,000 square foot yard with a 2 foot slope. HomeGuide notes that most residential grading projects are a quarter acre or less.

A whole lot is a bigger job. Fixr says most homeowners pay nowhere near the average price to regrade an entire acre. When a quote covers a whole lot, compare it with the per acre rows. A pad for a house, barndominium or shop is its own job, and our building pad cost guide covers it.

Fill dirt is the other big split. Fixr’s $1,800 job includes 5 cubic yards of fill dirt and 10 of topsoil. Its per acre prices, up to $45,000 for a full acre, leave out any extra fill dirt. HomeGuide notes that many grading contractors charge separately for fill dirt and topsoil.

What drives the cost to level land?

Every grading price comes down to how much dirt moves and how hard it is to move. These lines push a quote up or down.

• How much dirt moves, and how far. Grading contractors cut dirt from high areas and use it to build up low areas. Some projects need more fill dirt, bought and trucked in. Dirt carried across a big lot takes longer than dirt pushed a few feet.
• Slope. Fixr says most contractors quote by the change in elevation, in 1 foot steps. Most jobs level about 2 feet between the low and high points. Leveling a sloped yard can cost up to 25 percent more than a flatter one.
• Rock. The Western Highland Rim begins a few miles west of Nashville. Its bedrock is chiefly limestone, chert, shale and sandstone. HomeGuide prices rocky soil at the high end of its range. Fixr says a lawn with lots of rocks and debris can cost 10 to 20 percent more.
• Wet ground and the season. HomeGuide says the best time to regrade is spring or fall during dry weather. It warns against grading in the rainy season, when loose topsoil may wash away. In Clarksville, May is the wettest month on average and September the driest.
• Machine access. Machines need a clear way in. Where they cannot reach the ground, Fixr says you spend more on hourly labor for hand work.
• Clearing first. Land must be cleared before it is leveled. HomeGuide says clearing trees and large rocks first costs more. On a wooded lot, land clearing comes before any grading.

What does it cost to fix the grading around a house?

HomeGuide puts regrading around a house at $500 to $1,000 to fix one side of the foundation. Grading around the whole house runs $1,000 to $3,000. HomeGuide notes that grading around a house fixes drainage issues.

The 2018 International Residential Code sets the slope. The ground has to fall at least 6 inches in the first 10 feet from the foundation. Where something blocks that fall, like a lot line or a wall, the code calls for drains or swales.

Water that cannot soak in has to go somewhere. Clarksville averages about 53.5 inches of rain and melted snow a year. Dickson soils, a Highland Rim soil type, have a layer 18 to 36 inches down that water moves through slowly.

That is where grading meets drainage work. When the ground cannot be sloped enough, French drains carry the water away from the house.

Do you need a permit to grade land in Tennessee?

It depends on how much ground you disturb and where the land sits. These rules can apply around Clarksville and Nashville.

• The state. Tennessee’s construction stormwater permit covers clearing, grading or excavation that disturbs one acre or more. A smaller site can count when it is part of a larger common plan of development or sale.
• Montgomery County. A project that disturbs more than 10,000 square feet, but less than half an acre, needs a stormwater concept plan. The county uses that review to decide whether full grading, drainage and erosion control plans are needed.
• Cheatham County. Outside town limits, the county has its own grading permit. You need it when the new grade changes how much water runs onto or off someone else’s land. Filling or digging only what a building foundation needs does not need that permit.
• Pegram. Inside the Town of Pegram, the town’s building inspector issues a permit for site preparation that requires grading. The town code has its own excavation and grading chapter.
• Tennessee 811. The notice goes in at least 3, and not more than 10, working days before digging.

Your city or county may set its own rules. Ask its codes office before you set a start date.

How do you get a real price for your grading job?

Cost guides give you a range to plan around. The real number comes from how much dirt moves, the slope, the rock, the water and the way in.

We handle lot grading out of Woodlawn, just west of Clarksville. We set elevations with a grade laser and shape the ground so water runs off the right way. We cover Clarksville and Montgomery County and travel to Nashville and Franklin. Estimates are free, so call or text (931) 572-8673.